The Reunion
by Atana
Summary: Severus Snape's abusive father has ruined his first day at Hogwarts - again. How does Martis deal with this crisis? A Snips and Spirals story.
1. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: I don't deny that Martis wants to turn Snape Senior into chum. Thing is, she has to wait in line like the rest of us.  
  
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Snips and Spirals Fanfic: "Reunion"

Text by Lady Tesser

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Britomartis Vox, twelve-years-old, had hardly gotten any sleep the night before she left for Hogwarts. Indeed, the last few days were plagued with nightmares of facing her best friend's father, most of the dreams ending with a flash of bright green light and her chest exploding.  
  
She had to put it out of her mind as she was roused early before dawn and performed her bathing in the lamplit bath. So much to do today, she thought as she dried off. Getting things on the ship, traveling, taking them off, putting them on the Muggle train, taking the Muggle train from Southampton, taking them off the Muggle train, then to King's Cross to catch the Hogwarts Express on Platform 9&3/4...  
  
Then meeting Sev again. Her poor darling Snips with the hellish father and cowering mother and with bruises and a possible broken collarbone. Damn his father.  
  
She quickly rubbed olive oil into her skin as the windows illuminated with the silver light of dawn. Other things to think about.  
  
A half-hour later, dressed, hair combed, she and her sisters Artemisia, Adonia (both Fourth-Years), and Phaedra (Sixth-Year) left Crete on submersible ship to Southampton.  
  
----------  
  
Severus Snape, fourteen-years-old, wondered if he was going to die before or after he graduated school.  
  
At this rate, he figured he was going to die before graduation. At least that old bastard did not bother with him since he had beaten his son mercilessly the other morning. All over being seen in Knockturn Alley with a pair of Aurors no one's seen or heard of before. How the hell does anyone know who's an Auror anyway?  
  
Even so, it was becoming clear that the Aurors were clamping down on Dark Wizards and some did not even bother going through the channels of the Ministry of Magic anymore. Officially, anyway. There was a lot that Snape Senior had to fear now.  
  
It did not help it had to be taken out on Sev.  
  
Sev carefully got up and dressed himself, his shoulder still hurting like hell. He had to visit Nurse Pomfrey as soon as he got to school, it did not matter what his Father thought. The after-effects of the Cruciatus Curse still racked his thin body. Surprising. Considering the amount of times he had been used for it, he should have gone mad when he was a toddler.  
  
Dark Blood was a wondrously terrifying thing, he figured.  
  
Yukie the house-elf had packed his trunks for school, 'tching' to herself over how meager his school possessions were. He liked Yukie, even though she got tanked on his Father's coffee stashes every chance she got. No butterbeer in the house, but the coffee stashes were an open secret and just as effective.  
  
A knock sounded on the door.  
  
"It's your mother," a female voice said. The door opened and she stepped in slightly, a dark purple gown sweeping around the door. "Do you need help downstairs? Your Father's at work. I was figuring we could have breakfast together."  
  
He shook his head, narrowing his eyes at her. She quickly left.  
  
He was not sure he could swallow anything. Or where it might go.  
  
----------  
  
Martis made the conductors of both the Muggle train and the Hogwarts Express nervous with her pacing up and down the aisles of the cars.  
  
"It isn't going to hurry it up," Artemisia said as she passed.  
  
She passed again, this time Adonia adding, "If he's at the platform, we'll help you kill him."  
  
On her next pass, Phaedra commented, "We'll even bury his father in the Forbidden Forest with you - no problem."  
  
While pacing on the Hogwarts Express, she almost knocked over Remus Lupin.  
  
"Sorry," she said shortly. "Didn't see you." She looked over his shaggy ginger-colored hair and pale, thin face and remarked, "Great Mother, you need to be out in the sun more."  
  
Then she paced off.  
  
Remus Lupin stared after her knee-length hair, transfixed. He was on his way to see another classmate in another car when Vox had slammed into him, activating things he was not aware of but only had the slightest idea about over the summer.  
  
She was a Girl! She did not smell like any other girl, either, since most of them wore faded floral perfumes and scented soaps that irritated his sinuses. His hypersensitive nose picked up things others could not, including the personal scents of people. He could smell the olive oil and honey and spicy perfume on her skin, the scents of salt-spray and incense on her clothes and that little shift in chemistry that he had recently found out was Girl on Moon Cycles, a powerful scent that he now discovered affected him to his very core.  
  
Lupin had an overwhelming urge to chase after her and ... he was not sure what, actually. But the fact remained that he was certain she was one of the most beautiful, delicious-smelling girls in the school and was very sure that if he did pursue her, he was going to get a knee in his groin. After all, she was still upset over them trying to kill her, even though he tried to stop the rest of the Marauders from trying to freeze her to death.  
  
He slammed his head back against the wall of a cabin and tried to shake the image of Britomartis Vox in her Quidditch uniform armor out of his head.  
  
----------  
  
The Hogwarts Express pulled into the Wiltshire station and students began climbing aboard.  
  
Martis pushed her way past Lucius Malfoy.  
  
"Figures you would be after him," Lucius commented behind her. "What's left of him is on the platform."  
  
Martis snarled in his direction and called him many things associated with an insensate self-centered goit, and hopped off the steps to the platform.  
  
"Snips!" she cried.  
  
Sev looked up, his cloak completely surrounding his body, preventing anyone from seeing what shape he was in. He raised his right arm gingerly (his left remaining down - so, the old bastard was right-handed when he hit) and flinched as she wrapped her arms around him.  
  
"Oh, Great Mother, Severus," she murmured as she pulled back. "Let me carry you up to the train and get you in our cabin. Oh, Gods, where is that monster - I'll kill him!"  
  
"P-P-P-Please, M-M-Martis," he whispered.  
  
"What the Avernus?" she gasped, draping his good arm over her shoulder and pulling him up to the train. His cloak opened slightly, his left arm held in a tight sling. "Snips - "  
  
He said nothing as she dragged him down the walkway and into the cabin with the twins and Phaedra.  
  
"Clear a seat!" Martis barked. "It's worse than I thought!"  
  
Phaedra stood up and offered her bench; her frizzy black hair seemed to stand on end even more as she noted the bruises around his neck, hairline, and eyes, and his arm in the sling. "Where's his father? Doni, Arti - we're going Wizard Hunting."  
  
The twins got up and short swords, daggers, one triton, and one spear appeared out of thin air. Somehow, they also acquired helmets and breastplates.  
  
"N-N-No!" Sev stuttered. "I-I-It's n-n-n-not wor-rth it."  
  
The train lurched forward; Martis caught Sev before he fell to the floor.  
  
Phaedra said a very nasty word in Minoan that would have gotten her mouth washed out. "What do you mean it's not worth it, Snape? This is just as bad your first year when you went unconscious the whole way to Hogsmeade - "  
  
"What?" Martis asked in alarm. "This happens every year?"  
  
The twins nodded. "Just about," Artemisia answered.  
  
"Last year he only had that limp," Adonia added.  
  
Phaedra rolled her eyes. "You take care of him, baby sister. I'll try to find a way to send word ahead to the school for Nurse Pomfrey." She left the cabin.  
  
"Put the weapons away," Martis told her remaining sisters. "You're not helping."  
  
The twins reluctantly hid their weaponry again, the helmets and armor also vanishing.  
  
Sev smiled slightly. "I-I-I-I w-would hate t-t-t-t-to b-be on th-th-the end o-of th-th-that."  
  
"How did you get the stutter?" Martis asked as she gently arranged him on the bench. She reached for the collar of his cloak, but his flinch told her to keep away. Instead, she brushed his hair from his face.  
  
"D-D-D-Don't know," he answered. "C-C-Curse or b-b-b-beating."  
  
"You're definitely going to Nurse Pomfrey and don't give me any cheek about not going to her."  
  
"N-N-No ob-ob-objection."  
  
Martis gently wrapped him up in her arm, holding him close and stroking his hair and face. "You're going to be better when we get there, Snips. Don't worry. We're going to be at school soon and you'll have me looking after you again."  
  
"D-D-Don't l-look after m-m-me!"  
  
"Pig's spit." She pressed her fingers between his brows. "You're going to rest during the trip. Have you eaten?"  
  
"N-N-N-Not since th-th-that m-m-morning."  
  
"Several days. Probably be best just to have liquids then." She looked up at Adonia. "Can you locate the trolley lady and get some pumpkin juice?"  
  
"Sure." Adonia got up and left.  
  
Artemisia bit her lip, then said, "Hey, Severus, want a giggle? Adonia is going to chase both guys and girls this year. No one's safe."  
  
Martis snorted. "I don't think that's appropriate, Sis."  
  
"I want it be known to all that I don't share her tastes." She smiled prettily at Sev. "I still prefer men - or anything that is a humanoid male. When you feel better, Severus, you can date me."  
  
Martis kicked at her across the seats. "Will you shut up? He's not exactly in a mood to deal with your sense of humor."  
  
"I'm just trying to make him feel better," Artemisia informed her. "He's my classmate, not just your boyfriend."  
  
"It's not like that!" Martis warned her.  
  
Sev ignored the sisters' bickering, drifting into a light sleep as his Martis held him.  
  
----------  
  
The train finally pulled into Hogsmeade and the Seventh-Years began herding out the First-Year students to meet with Hagrid to go on the boats.  
  
Second-Years and older were permitted to travel to the castle by carriage.  
  
Martis and Phaedra helped the semi-awake Sev down the steps of the train and onto a stretcher provided by Nurse Pomfrey a little ways down the platform.  
  
The nurse checked over his head and his arm right there while Martis waited.  
  
"Go on," Pomfrey ordered. "You're not needed at this moment."  
  
"But I have to know how he is," Martis insisted.  
  
"I'll talk with the Headmaster when I'm done, Miss Vox, now get going."  
  
Hesitantly, Martis turned away and blindly made her way toward the carriages, climbing up into one without seeing who was in it.  
  
"Miss Vox," Lucius stated. "Good of you to join us."  
  
"Oh, Great Mother," she sighed as she took in the sight of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black (Fifth-Years), both in their school robes and perfectly combed blonde hair. "You two look even more like the Bobbsey Twins."  
  
"The who?" Narcissa asked in confusion.  
  
"Nothing," she answered, moving to get out just as another body climbed in. Evan Ryper grinned, settling next to Martis.  
  
"Good evening all," the Sixth-Year Slytherin Prefect greeted them. "Mr. Malfoy, Miss Black, Miss Vox."  
  
"Hi, Evan," Martis replied, mentally cussing at him for not allowing her to escape.  
  
"Good evening, Mr. Ryper," Lucius answered.  
  
"Hello, Evan," Narcissa replied, smiling flirtatiously. Martis wanted to gag.  
  
"Isn't this convenient?" Evan said, sensing the tension around him as the carriage began to move. "All of us Slytherins together, the backbone of the House."  
  
"Some more than others," Narcissa commented.  
  
"It depends on which part," Martis retorted.  
  
"So, what happened to Snips?" Lucius asked conversationally. "I daresay, he did not leave your cabin at all during the trip up here."  
  
Martis adjusted her sunglasses, wondering what sort of retarded moron Lucius was. The uppity git knew what had happened. Was it for Narcissa's entertainment that he was going to have Martis break down into tears over her best friend's injuries? Or were both going to show how blatantly unconcerned they were by playing to be above such things?  
  
Not bloody likely, either way. "He's feeling ill. Nurse Pomfrey is checking to see if it's contagious." She added a cough, making Narcissa squirm. The perturbed look on Lucius' face made Martis feel slightly better.  
  
"Well," the older girl huffed. "I do hope it isn't. And I certainly wouldn't want to catch anything from him."  
  
Evan leaned back in his seat and pulled two glass bottles out of his robes, one filled with lavender water and the other with deep blue water, and stared at them in silence.  
  
"Mm, perhaps," Martis said. "But then again, it was within the same area you all live in when he caught it."  
  
Lucius' fine eyebrows lowered over his blue eyes. "We shall see. Are you planning on trying out for the Quidditch team this year?"  
  
Martis nodded. "Of course. Might even win the Quidditch Cup this time. I understand we need a new Seeker and another Chaser, too. Since Ellington Gordon graduated last year, there's also a Beater position open."  
  
"And you'll go for Beater again, I take it."  
  
"Absolutely."  
  
"I suppose," Narcissa interrupted. "That malformed gorillas are still being accepted on the team, correct?"  
  
Martis felt her teeth set on edge. Sev still had her bat in his trunk. She had a lovely mental image of using it around Narcissa's head and discovering her head was full of Blast-Ended Skrewts trying to eat each other.  
  
"Probably. Perhaps you would like to try out, then?"  
  
She felt Evan trying not to giggle aloud, even though his body shook from silent laughter.  
  
"No," Narcissa answered politely. "I'll allow the violent maniacs do that, thank you."  
  
"Too bad," Martis commented as she looked out the window. "I understand female Quidditch players get huge fan followings. If she's pretty on top of being a good player, then she'll never want for company."  
  
She shifted her eyes behind her sunglasses to see Narcissa's mouth open in shock and Lucius smirking.  
  
It was always fun yanking their chains, although she wished Sev were with her to help.  
  
----------  
  
The Marauders were back in the Great Hall once again, their heads bent close during dinner.  
  
"Really," James Potter was saying. "I say we should keep the hell away from them. They're nuts."  
  
His best friend Sirius Black snorted. "Much as I want to wring their necks, you are right, Prongs."  
  
Remus Lupin was staring in the direction of Slytherin's tables, gazing at the waterfall of Martis' ash-blonde hair just sweeping the floor behind her.  
  
"You notice Snivellus isn't at the tables," Peter Pettigrew squeaked. "Stupid git is probably afraid of us coming after them."  
  
Potter shook his head. "I heard he was in bad shape when he got on the train."  
  
Black smirked. "His dad probably gave him a smack around just before he left. Don't blame the old man, Snape's such a worm."  
  
"Well, I know I saw him in the same cabin with the Vox's," Lupin added quietly. "He looked like he lost a bet to a hippogriff."  
  
"Sickening," Black sighed. "The greasy git has the Vox twins on his side."  
  
Pettigrew made a face. "I don't care to be on any side of them - they scare me."  
  
Lupin narrowed his eyes. "Everything scares you, you little pooftah. When are you going to grow up and notice girls?"  
  
Potter raised an eyebrow, surprised at Moony calling Wormtail a 'pooftah'.  
  
"Not them! They're the ones who ambushed me in the hall and threatened to feed me to one of their snakes!"  
  
"They all ambushed us - including Luscious Phaedra," Black reminded him. His face darkened. "And that's how we got in trouble. I'm going to have to agree with James. We should leave Snivelly and Snake-Bitch alone. If they bug us, then we have rights to retaliate."  
  
"Sounds fair," Potter agreed. "I think we should make it official - don't mess with them unless they make the first move."  
  
"And," Lupin added. "we are good sports about it. That's the real reason we got in trouble in the first place."  
  
"Yes, yes," Black sighed. "All right, who's going to talk to Snake-Bitch about it?"  
  
"Not me," Potter said. "They almost killed me when I ran into them at the quill shop just before Christmas."  
  
"Not me," Pettigrew insisted. "I'll either get a snake flung at me or grease on my clothes."  
  
Lupin rolled his eyes. "I will then. I know I can talk to her without bloodshed."  
  
"Remember to shower afterward," Black reminded him. "She's probably covered with grease, too."  
  
"Why?" he asked as he got up.  
  
"I'm surprised you haven't heard THOSE rumors about those two ... "  
  
Lupin quietly making his way across the Great Hall and toward the Slytherin tables. It was actually a good move to do this during dinner, since he would have literally hundreds of witnesses ... to keep her polite or him in line, he was not sure. He was still uncertain of what he wanted to do, but he had an idea it involved tackling her to the floor.  
  
He cleared his throat as several Slytherins looked up, glaring at him. "Miss Vox?"  
  
Martis turned around, looking up at him through her sunglasses. "Yes, Mr. Lupin?"  
  
"The Marauders - Sirius Black, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and myself - hereby officially call a truce between us and you and Severus Snape. The truce will only be broken if you and/or Mr. Snape choose to prank us first. In turn, we shall be good sports about it and not cause any problems that will lead up to what happened December last."  
  
Martis' eyebrow raised over her sunglass frames. "Cautious, aren't we, Mr. Lupin?"  
  
He nodded. "The tour of Azkaban and surviving Professor Machiavelli has influenced our stance, yes. We will allow you and Mr. Snape to set the tone of our rivalry."  
  
She gazed at him, and then her tongue darted out and licked across her lips. Lupin felt his knees go weak, but managed to stand his ground.  
  
"Agreed. Inform Misters Black, Potter, and Pettigrew that we accept the truce."  
  
He exhaled. "Thank you, Miss Vox." One last glance, then he turned back to his table and settled next to Potter. "Accepted."  
  
Black frowned slightly. "Now we hold our breaths and wait for the attack." He grunted, digging into his beef casserole. "Stupid snakes."  
  
----------  
  
Martis was permitted to see Sev just after dinner.  
  
"How you doing?" she asked softly as she sat on his bed.  
  
He shook his head. "Sti-Sti-Still stu-stu-stu-stuttering. How-how was d-d- dinner?"  
  
"The Sorting Hat sang for five whole minutes, we got twenty new Slytherins, the potatoes were delish, Lucy and Nasty-issa were playing footsie under the table - I know because she hit my foot - Dumbledore's new favorite word is 'toinks', and the Marauders offered a truce on their side to not do anything to us unless we prank them first."  
  
"T-T-Trust them?"  
  
"They sent Lupin to do the negotiations. If they weren't serious, they would have sent Pettigrew." She cocked her head. "What did Pomfrey say about your injuries?"  
  
He motioned his head toward the charts next to his bed. Martis picked it up.  
  
' ... fractured left clavicle ... concussion ... heavy bruising around neck, sides of head, both eyes, and front torso ... lacerations on chest and neck ... lacerated lip ... '  
  
The list of curses Pomfrey had to lift read like a Who's Who of Dark Arts Favorites, at least one Unforgivable among them, and several involving his digestive tract.  
  
"Great Mother," she breathed. "How did you survive?"  
  
He shrugged, not looking at her. "Hi-Hi-Hi-High p-p-p-pain thresh-h-h- hold."  
  
"What about the stutter?"  
  
"Psy-Psy-Psy - " He grunted in frustration, then blurted, "Mental!"  
  
"I see." She reached up and smoothed hair from his forehead. "I'll help you with that, then. I helped my nephew Damon get over his toddler stutter. Not much different."  
  
"Th-Th-Th-Thank you." He reached up and held her hand, gazing back up at her.  
  
"Snips, you look like a raccoon."  
  
"We m-m-m-match. D-D-Dark o-over our-our-our eyes."  
  
She smiled softly, pulling her sunglasses off with her freehand. "You're with me again, Snips. No one's going to hurt you now."  
  
Sev smiled, his split lip looking horrible.  
  
"Time's up," Nurse Pomfrey called.  
  
Martis leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow as soon as I can, darling Snips. You get some sleep now."  
  
He squeezed her hand in response, and then she was gone.  
  
----------  
  
But Martis had one more place to visit. Professor Penderdandis took her to the gargoyle niche, muttered "Cornish Pixie Stix.", and Martis was lifted up to Dumbledore's office.  
  
She stepped out of the stairway, looking around the cozy office heavy with the scents of old books and secrets. The Sorting Hat sat quietly on a shelf. A Phoenix sat on a perch, watching her carefully. Dumbledore himself sat behind a large claw-foot desk.  
  
"You wished to see me, Headmaster?" she asked.  
  
"Word has reached me about young Severus Snape," he said in a concerned voice. "That he had to be taken by stretcher from the train to the hospital wing."  
  
Martis nodded. "He was in bad shape. Reading his charts was like reading an autopsy."  
  
Dumbledore's faded blue eyes were somber. "Any idea how it happened?"  
  
Martis dug into the pockets of her robe and produced Sev's last letter. She handed it to him. "We visited Diagon Alley together several weeks ago, and I let my sense of adventure get the best of me and we followed someone we knew into Knockturn Alley." She dropped her face. "He told me not to go. That his father would kill him if he knew ... evidently, he found out."  
  
Dumbledore read the letter. "Who were the Aurors?"  
  
She shrugged. "I don't know any Aurors. A man and a woman, the man had long red hair and the woman had frizzy brown hair. They bickered like married people do and just warned us to stay out of Knockturn Alley. We didn't know they were Aurors."  
  
"Curious," Dumbledore commented. He handed the letter back to her. "I've done all I could to help Severus in relation to his father. Mr. Snape seems to believe his child under my care should not be questioned about his bruises and breaks."  
  
Martis twisted her fingers around the cloth of her robe. "That's bollocks, sir. Pardon my language. I've know about his father being a Dark Wizard and abusing him. If the ... the monster had been at the train station, I would have torn him - "  
  
Dumbledore raised his hand, stopping her from incriminating herself into something. "Martis, your strength and energy must go into helping Severus recover, not seeking his father's life in cold blood."  
  
She smiled grimly. "Death is too kind and brief. He understands it perfectly - look at what he does to his own child!"  
  
"I've done all I could to help. Professor Penderdandis, Miss Price, Nurse Pomfrey, and I have written report after report and filed it accordingly and without word from the authorities."  
  
Martis slammed her hand down on his desk. "And all end up in the Round File I bet! I hear the Aurors are given carte blanche in catching Dark Wizards - why can't anyone be sent after that monster? Or is the Ministry of Magic so corrupt that First-Year magic students are able to see the flaw in their system?"  
  
She broke into tears, wrapping her arms around her body and sobbing. Dumbledore was up and pulling her into a hug, stroking her long hair.  
  
"He's hurt him," she cried. "He's hurt him, and nothing can be done about it. Nobody will do anything about it. They'd rather let a child die than admit one of their members is a child-killing monster ... "  
  
Martis clung to the old Headmaster's robes, wanting, praying that he would understand the desperateness of the situation.  
  
"I have no answer for you, Martis," he said sadly. "Institutions and governments rule themselves with less logic than magic. I'm surprised the Ministry hasn't fallen apart yet."  
  
"But what about Severus?" she hiccuped.  
  
"Do everything you can for him." He lifted her chin up with his hand. "He needs all the Light he can get. He could easily follow the same path as his father if he spirals into the Darkness. I want you to continue to give him those threads of hope like you have been."  
  
"Is it enough, though?" she asked. "If he could end up like - "  
  
Dumbledore smiled gently. "I think you know the answer, Martis. He adores you, he places everything you are above himself. He knows you're his salvation, even if he doesn't know what it's called."  
  
"That's too much," she whispered. "I'm only twelve."  
  
He sighed, then looked up toward the ceiling. "What was it your people say? 'The Great Mother does not give what we cannot handle'?"  
  
Martis nodded, pulling her sunglasses off and wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "Yes." She looked up at him as he lowered his eyes to hers. "I'll give him those threads of hope then. Just no promises that his father won't wake up with a double-axe in his skull."  
  
Dumbledore's face turned serious and he ignored the threat. "Best to get you to bed. Nurse Pomfrey tells me he will be up and about the day after tomorrow. Then you two can terrorize the school again."  
  
"We were never caught," she reminded him. "It could have been anyone else who looked like us wearing the white sheets."  
  
"When was this?"  
  
She smiled nervously. "Nothing, just seeing if you were listening." She hugged him tightly around the waist. "Thank you, Headmaster. And try to kick the Ministry's butt every chance you get."  
  
He nodded. "I promise. Good night, Martis."  
  
"Good night, sir."  
  
----------  
  
Nurse Poppy Pomfrey was quite concerned over her charge Severus Snape. She was beginning to expect him in her hospital at the beginning of every year now, which did not bode well with her at all. Her own views on 'accidental' bruises and broken bones were more cynical than most, and she said so in her medical reports on the child - usually with many bad words directed towards the child's father.  
  
But this concern was slightly different from the before-mentioned reasons. It was the fact that he now had a self-appointed nursemaid by name of Britomartis Vox, the girl she previously had to treat for hypothermic shock last year.  
  
She suppose it had to happen, considering how the boy had worried over the girl before. But, still, she was the school nurse, and things still had to be handled just-so in her ward.  
  
For one thing, no privacy screens. Poppy Pomfrey was still cynical by nature, after all.  
  
For another, she was quite certain the girl was missing classes, even if she was helping the boy learn how to speak again.  
  
What straightened her curly salt-and-pepper hair was finding the Snape boy and Vox girl poking each other's shoulders and saying 'Bother!' to each other over and over again.  
  
"What is this??" she demanded.  
  
The two stopped and smiled up at her. "We're just playing the 'Bother Game'," Martis explained. "It's helping Snips to not stutter when talking quickly."  
  
"I will not have students bothering each other on my hospital wing!" Pomfrey proclaimed. "Out, Miss Vox! You can see him again when he's released this evening!"  
  
Martis gathered up her bookbag and waved at Sev. "See you later on."  
  
Sev waved back and she ran out of the infirmary.  
  
Nurse Pomfrey sat next to his bed and checked over his face. "Bruising's gone down quickly thanks to those leeches." She examined his lip. "Hardly see the scar on that now." She gently touched his collarbone. "And that's all better. Fractures heal more quickly than breaks. May I look at your chest?"  
  
Sev nodded and allowed her to open the front of the school-issue hospital pajamas. Her lips pressed tightly together. "There's very little I can do about all these scars."  
  
"I-I-I know." He took a deep breath and slowly said, "I ... had ... th- them ... for ... years."  
  
"Yes, I read the few reports I could wrestle out of the healers in your town. I'm surprised the local exterminator hasn't snuffed out your father. Matter of time." She buttoned his shirt back up. "Do you think you can swallow some actual food yet?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Good. I'll have the house-elves prepare you some liquids and soft foods for lunch. You should be ready to join your classmates in the Great Hall for dinner." She brushed hair out of his face and patted his cheek. "The only reasons I should see you in here are for colds or backfired pranks, understand, Mr. Snape?"  
  
He smiled shyly, nodding in agreement.  
  
Pomfrey got up and went about her duties for the rest of the afternoon.  
  
----------  
  
Slytherin House was completed at last when Sev slipped into the seat next to Martis in the Great Hall and said, "Hi ... Spirals ... "  
  
Martis turned around and hugged him gently, grinning hard. With an arm still around him, she turned to the table at large, "Hey, everyone, Snips is feeling better!"  
  
The only people who really paid attention were Sev's roommates and a few of Martis' roommates.  
  
"Oh, boy," Oriana Crescent sighed. "Snips and Spirals are back together again."  
  
"Woe to the Marauders," Akiko Mori added.  
  
"Woe to our house points," Lucius snorted.  
  
Evan grinned. "Think of it this way, Malfoy, Snape will be more tolerable again this year."  
  
"Excuse me while I contain my excitement."  
  
Martis made a face at Lucius. "Ignore them, Snips."  
  
Sev handed her a note and she opened it, reading it under the table.  
  
'Spirals - Don't make me talk in front of anyone until I get this stutter taken care of, all right? And thank you for everything, especially being on the train; you have no idea how much that helped. - Snips'  
  
She looked up at him as he smiled back at her, then she hugged him again. "Good to have you back, Snips," she whispered in his ear. "Let the good times roll."


	2. A Word to the Wise

Chapter 2 - A Word to the Wise

Severus Snape, Fourth-Year, had been excused from vocal participation in classes.   
  
Professor Flitwick, Charms Teacher, understood completely when Nurse Pomfrey explained it to him. He was concerned, but chuckled good-naturally to Sev, 'It would not be good for you to incant with a stutter, then find out you summoned the Blood-Drinking Agony Rabbit of Woovolonia.'  
  
Professor McGonagall just assigned extra transfiguration homework to make up for his lack of vocal participation.  
  
The Marauders were insaitably curious as to why Snivellus did not have to do incantations and all four regretted the fact they made a pact with him and Britomartis Vox not to do anything to them.  
  
"But there's a loophole," Sirius Black stated after classes one afternoon as they relaxed by the lake under a tree.  
  
"What sort?" Remus Lupin asked. He hated any type of 'loopholes' that Sirius could find. It usually meant somebody getting into trouble. He certainly hoped Miss Britomartis was not going to be tormented.  
  
"There was nothing mentioned in the agreement about verbal sparring."  
  
"Good call, Padfoot!" James Potter snickered. "We all know you're hopelessly in love with Vox the way you keep hanging on to her every word - "  
  
Black casually headsmacked his best friend. Potter readjusted his glasses and shut up.  
  
Peter Pettigrew was not as smart. "Oh, Gods, Sirius - are you seriously - "  
  
"Shut up!" Black barked. "I don't have a thing for Snake-Bitch!"  
  
Potter smirked, moreover to irritate Black. "I do."  
  
'So do I," Lupin added in thought. 'But I'm not stupid enough to open my mouth about it.'  
  
Pettigrew made gagging noises.  
  
Black snorted in contempt. "Have you already forgotten Lovely Lily already, Prongs?"  
  
"Oh, of course not," Potter replied. "But Vox is fun to throw stuff at."  
  
"At least until you get a knee in the goolies," Lupin reminded them.  
  
"Nothing's getting done," Black proclaimed as he looked around. "There they are - a few hundred yards that way."  
  
The other three turned around to see Martis and Sev on another part of the shore of the lake, sitting closely together and talking quietly with books across their knees.  
  
"So, what's the plan?" Potter asked.  
  
"Get Snivelly to talk. Might need someone to distract Snake-Bitch. Moony, you don't mind talking with her."  
  
"Count me out," Lupin protested. "I thought we agreed to leave them alone?"  
  
"We're just going to find out why Greaseball doesn't have to talk in class is all. Maybe we'll find out that his dad ripped his vocal cords out."  
  
Lupin rolled his eyes and followed the other three as they made their way down the shore toward the two Slytherins.  
  
Martis looked up and noted the advancing Marauders. "Head's up, Snips. It's the Menagerie."  
  
"L-L-Let's go," Sev said nervously as he moved to get up.  
  
"No," she ordered, pulling him back down. "They aren't going to cow us for their amusement. Besides, if they get out of line, I'll tell them a thing or two."  
  
"P-P-P-Please, Sp-Sp-Spirals!"  
  
"Shh."  
  
The Marauders approached, lining up.  
  
"See, Snips?" Martis said conversationally. "We were discussing pack animal behavior and their need to make themselves look bigger when faced with more dangerous animals than themselves - "  
  
"So you're admitting that you're animals, then?" Potter retorted automatically.  
  
"Only in a spiritual sense - we don't need to show it in public."  
  
"Only rut with each other in public?" Black responded.  
  
Martis' face remained completely passive as Sev blushed up to his hairline. "Yes," she confirmed. "Might give some pointers to you bumbling virgins."  
  
Lupin turned bright red and turned away, trying not to laugh out loud. He knew that zinger hit Black in the gut, much as their 'packleader' said otherwise. He also knew that Miss Britomartis putting them on the defensive threw them for a loop.  
  
Black reached for the upperhand again. "Hey, Snape, we need some help with our Charms work. We're sure you would know how to - "  
  
Martis placed her hand on Sev's chest, seemingly restraining him. "Snips shouldn't have to do your homework because you're too stupid to learn how to pronounce your own names."  
  
"Stay out, Snake-Bitch," Black hissed. "You weren't being spoken to."  
  
"As his main representative, it it my duty to answer for him at this time." She stood up, barely coming up to his shoulder, and adjusted her sunglasses. "So, why don't you four little boys run off and molest each other in the woods or something and allow us to do our work, eh?"  
  
Potter pulled out his wand and Martis narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you completely incapable of going five minutes without grabbing your stick? And since you're one of the advocates of keeping this a truce - I suggest you put it back in your pants!"  
  
Potter turned a brilliant shade of crimson. "I've been had - gentlemen, I'm leaving."  
  
Black snarled, grabbing his friend's arm to keep him from leaving.  
  
"Get going," Martis warned. "I'm at that time in which I will get very bitchy, and you won't like it when I'm really bitchy."  
  
All four boys turned as white as sheets and quickly bowed out.  
  
Sev looked at her in confusion. "Wh-Wh-What was th-th-that about?"  
  
"Evidently, they all either have sisters or female relatives that have Moontimes and know what 'that time' and 'bitchy' means in the same breath." She made faces at their retreating figures.  
  
"Wh-Wh-What does it m-m-mean?" he asked.  
  
She explained in plain terms and some sketchings, making sure to remain clinical and not include commentary from her culture. She was still dealing with a fourteen-year-old boy, even though he was more objective than most when it came to anatomy.  
  
Sev was both fascinated and repulsed. "And th-this is for - ?"  
  
"Making babies," she answered simply.  
  
He was silent. Overhearing his roommates gave him a basic education on that part of the process. As well as knowledge of his own conception. Then his eyes widened and he squeaked, "Shit!"  
  
"Don't think about it, it'll make your head hurt," she told him. "Come on, I need to practice for Tryouts - you can throw stones at me."  
  
-----------  
  
There was no way he could hide his stutter in Potions class anymore. Notes on application, theory, and classification were done the first week, and the second week began lab practice in pairs.  
  
He was quickly claimed by Adonia Vox, one of Martis' sisters. His usual lab partner, Greta Bulstode, shot daggers at the Cretan blonde, who turned around and made a complex series of rude hand gestures that confused the Slytherin enough to not bother any more. Greta was not quite sure where the obscene gestures ended and where the gestures of a snake-worshipper spell began.  
  
Sev internally sighed. Where he was considered the best student in the entire class, Adonia was the worst. She had a habit of mixing up her animal parts by claiming they all looked alike. She was the only student in the entire history of Hogwarts to somehow mix a glue potion into root beer. The time one of her own potions screamed at her to not add a certain vial was still talked about among magical study circles.  
  
"Wh-wh-what are you d-d-doing?" he whispered.  
  
"Helping you out, Snape," she answered quietly. "Baby sister asked me to. And considering the Droolrauders are in the class and curious about your voice, you need all the help you can get."  
  
He surrendered. He knew Greta would point out his stutter to everyone with her tactless expressions of annoyance. He whispered directions to Adonia to measure out things, pointing to each vial and bottle to make sure she understood. Twice self-preservation forced him to slap her hand to keep her from turning a simple animal repellent into poison gas or skin-melter.  
  
The Marauders kept their ears open, straining to listen. Adonia once turned around and waved her own snake (Dakini) around in Pettigrew's face to shut his giggling up.  
  
But Adonia was still a Potions moron, and Sev was growing impatient with her apparent stupidity. He knew she was a warrior, but it was still not excuse! "H-h-h-hand me th-th-those l-l-lacew-w-lacewings, will you?" Sev finally blurted.  
  
The class seemed unduly quiet for some reason.  
  
It was followed by a giggle from Sirius Black. "Hey, Prongs, give me a lalalalalalacewhu-whu-wing, wuh-whu-won't you?"   
Potter frowned. "Remember what happened the other day?"   
  
Sirius stood up straight, making himself taller and more intimidating. "Yes, but Spitballs isn't here to protect her little defenseless Snots. What I just did was not a prank. Am I right?"   
  
Potter sighed. He had bad memories of Professor Machiavelli's tutelage, but could not say Sirius Black was wrong. Even Moony conceded the legality of the loophole.  
  
"Hey Snivelly," Black said, in a voice so quiet that Professor Sartoris could not overhear. "Can I borrow a lalalalalalacewhu-whu-wing?"   
  
Adonia's face pinched into a rather frightening mask of quiet anger.  
  
"G-g-go to h-h-hell, Black," Snape responded as quietly as he could, still going through the steps needed to make the day's potion. He could see, out the corner of his eye, Adonia fingering her wand inside her robe sleeve.  
  
Black laughed, whipping around and slapping Pettigrew on the shoulder with glee.   
  
"Huh-huh-huh-hell will fuh-fuh-fuh-freeze over buh-buh-before Snivelly stuh-stuh-stuh-stops being suh-suh-such a fuh-fuh-fuh-freaking guh-guh-greasy guh-guh-guh-git!"   
  
Pettigrew and Black gave each other high-fives. Potter rolled his eyes, grinning slightly. Remus Lupin acted as if he had not heard a word, but praying that Adonia Vox would shut them up.  
  
Sev had ducked his head, hair covering his face, ashamed of his lingering infirmity. He wanted to find a hole, crawl in it, then pull it in after him.  
  
Sirius circumnavigated the lab tables, weaving his way toward Sev. He hummed a tune while doing so:

"Thu-thu-there once wuh-wuh-wuh-was a slu-slu-slimeball called Snape   
  
Who huh-huh-hid his duh-duh-duh-dad's wuh-wuh-wounds with a cape   
  
But nuh-nuh-nuh-nobody cuh-cuh-cuh-cared   
  
Ub-ub-ub-About how the Snuh-Snuh-Snuh-Snape fared,   
  
And uh-uh-uh-applauded his Duh-Duh-Dad's aim and hate!"Adonia did not bother with her wand. She spun around, robes flying, and her hand cupped his chin, forcing him to look into her face.  
  
"You have no truce with me, Sirius Black," she whispered in a low, sultry voice. "And I'm not as nice as my baby sister, so I would do more than drop a Cornish pixie down your trousers."  
  
Black grasped for a superior position, smirking into the face that (frankly) scared him. "I know you want me."  
  
Adonia smiled in a way that made his teenage blood cold. "Sorry, I'm a lesbian - and even if I was straight, I'd have better taste."  
  
The class broke into giggles. Pettigrew got up. Potter and Lupin lowered their heads to not be noticed.  
  
Sartoris spoke quite loudly, reminding the class that he was there. "Messrs. Black and Pettigrew, five points each for ungentlemanly behavior, another five points each for disrupting class, and an incomplete for today's lab work! Now get back to your dorm rooms and QUIT DISRUPTING MY CLASS!" He glared at Adonia. "And five points for your disruption, Miss Vox! NOW SIT DOWN!"  
  
Adonia released Black's chin and bowed her head in apology to the Potions Master before she joined Sev at their lab table. Black muttered about the loss of twenty House points due to the 'class dyke' amd Adonia smiled sweetly at him, blowing him a kiss as he left.  
  
Sev found himself wondering what it would have been like to have been born into the Vox family. He decided he did not want to know.  
  
Dinner that night was not pleasant at the Gryffindor tables. Everyone now knew that Black and Pettigrew managed to kill twenty points so early in the year because they got caught harrassing Snape. The fact that Snape's friend's older sister (one of the Vox Twins, yet) had to put Black in his place did not sit with them, either.  
  
But the Slytherin table was abuzz concerning the Quidditch Tryouts for the next day.  
  
"I'm n-n-not trying out this year," Sev said.  
  
"Why not?" Martis asked as she mashed up her roasted potatoes. "I thought we could tag-team against Black and his boyfriend Potter this year. Even things out, you know."  
  
"My t-t-talent isn't really Quid-d-ditch. I'm better at ... potions." He smiled at her apologetically. "B-But I'll cheer you on."  
  
She squeezed his hand, both smiling.  
  
"Oh, look," Narcissa Black commented snidely as she sat down across from them. "The lovebirds. Stop leaving your droppings all over the place."  
  
Sev blushed up to his hairline and Martis smirked. "So much against affection, Black? After seeing you and Lucy going into Knockturn Alley to buy lust candles - "  
  
Narcissa's face turned white, showing off the blue veins in her face. "I have no idea what you mean."  
  
"Red candles covered with cinnamon and honey, specially charmed to increase virility - "  
  
Sev raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know that. No wonder they only sell them to wizards of legal age."  
  
Narcissa flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Oh, shut up. Are you still going to try out for the team?"  
  
"Of course," Martis snapped. "I thought we established that our first night back."  
  
"Just wondering." She cradled her chin in her hand, smiling sweetly. "I was figuring something, Britomartis. The Ladies of Slytherin need to show that we support our Quidditch team. It would be quite a coup for Penderdandis to put two graceful women on the team this year."  
  
Martis narrowed her eyes behind her sunglasses. "Come out with it, what are you cooking up?"  
  
"Me? Nothing. But suppose there should be a female Seeker on our team - someone smaller, faster, and more graceful - "  
  
"Yeah," Martis agreed. "We could always ask Akiko Mori. She's the smallest girl in Slytherin."  
  
"Shut up, Vox, I mean me."  
  
Martis and Sev cracked up and leaned on each other.  
  
"Small and fast!" Sev chortled, more amazed at not stuttering while he was laughing.  
  
"No, I'll grant the 'fast' part," Martis giggled. "But not in Quidditch!"  
  
Narcissa narrowed her eyes. "You don't think I can play Quidditch, can you?"  
  
"It's not that, it's ... well, why are you wanting to get on the team? You said many times it's full of nothing but brutes and it glorifies wizard's inhumanity to wizard." She smirked. "Perhaps because of the drooling fanboys?"  
  
Sev rubbed his finger over his lip, then spoke carefully in measured words, "I never thought about the popularity of female Quidditch players." He turned to Martis, grasping her hands and continuing in the same measured tone, "Spirals, will you still be my friend when you're swamped with drooling fanboys?"  
  
"Of course, Snips," she practically sang. "For you, I would - "  
  
"You're making me nauseous," Narcissa warned them. "All right, Vox. Tomorrow afternoon on the pitch."  
  
She got up and went back to the fashionable end of the table.  
  
Martis poked Sev's shoulder. "What a dipwit. We're not even vying for the same position."  
  
"Yes, but I think it has something to do with Penderdandis actually having ANY female players on Slytherin." He leaned on his elbows. "It's practically guaranteed you'll be put in for Beater."  
  
"If not, the House will be in open rebellion."  
  
"But I don't think he'll be open to any other girls getting on the team."  
  
"Guess we'll find out." She grinned. "Congratulations, Snips. We've had a whole conversation without you stuttering."  
  
He smiled. "Took a lot of concentration. I hope th-th-this ... " His face fell.  
  
Martis wrapped him up in a hug. "Don't worry about it, Sev. It's been almost two weeks, you've done very, very well in that amount of time."  
  
"N-N-No, I'm just ... I'm just mad at my father."  
  
"Aren't decent-thinking people all? Well, he can't really touch you here, so there's no reason to think about him." She hugged him again. "Now, what was this about Adonia telling Black that she wouldn't be after him even if she was straight?"  
  
----------  
  
The following day, Martis was strapping on her Quidditch armor and padding over the fawn-colored base unitard all the players wore. Tightening the buckles on her boots, she thought about all the practice she had put in during spring semester and the summer.  
  
She stood up, brushing her hair over her shoulder. Times like these she hated the length of her hair. It was not very practical for most sports. Grabbing her brush, she pulled her hair up, brushing it up on top of her head, then secured it with a hair-tie. She finished brushing the length (now just at the tops of her thighs) and looked at it as it fell over her shoulder. Flipping it back, she pulled her fingerless leather gloves on and tightened the straps.  
  
Picking up her bat, she touched the carved section spelling out 'Backbeat Spirals'. She found her wand and repaired the carved areas back to normal.  
  
Flipping the bat in hand, she looked at her reflection.  
  
"Backbeat Spirals is back." 


	3. Backbeat Spirals

Chapter 3 - Quidditch Tryouts  
  
Sev was surrounded by Vox sisters in the stands as the recruits straggled onto the Quidditch pitch. Most of the student body were back in their dorms, not really caring how the selection process happened. They preferred to see the games in their full glory when Quidditch season started.  
  
The few people in the stands were friends and/or siblings of those recruiting (some were die-hard Quidditch fans that wanted to experience every part of the process). There were also several members of the Quidditch teams from all four Houses, watching to see with whom they would work with in the future.  
  
Team Captains sat with their Heads of House, offering advice on which recruits would work best for the team.  
  
Madame Hooch, with her hawk-like yellow eyes and flaming red hair, presided over the actual tryouts on the pitch. She looked over the recruits in line, smirking as only referees could smirk, and spoke to one or the other as she passed.  
  
"Trying out for Seeker this year, Mr. Potter?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am," James Potter replied. "Been practicing."  
  
"Good. Miss Black, didn't expect to see you out here."  
  
Narcissa Black smiled charmingly. "Women's Lib and all, so I hear."  
  
"Whatever." Madame Hooch grinned. "Ready for the real thing, Miss Vox?"  
  
"Great Mother, am I ready!" Martis answered.  
  
"Excellent. All right, everyone, you know the usual - we start with the flying warm-ups, then we split into practice groups. All wands should be in your dorms. General Quidditch rules apply." She blew her whistle.  
  
Martis climbed on her broom and shot off into the air overhead. A cheer erupted from the Vox and Snape section. Near them, the three other Marauders (Black was content as a Chaser, while Lupin and Pettigrew knew they were quite unathletic) sat and cheered on Potter.  
  
"What's keeping them from hexing Sis' broom?" Artemisia asked.  
  
"That truce," Phaedra (Ravenclaw Chaser) answered. "Otherwise, those smegheads would be doing everything to throw her off."  
  
"Li-Li-Like they did t-t-t-to me," Sev muttered.  
  
Potter began a game with Martis, which quickly turned into a dogfight ballet as they spiraled and chased each other all over the pitch. Several of the other recruits stared in awe as the two screamed over their heads and under their feet, both smirking in professional rivalry.  
  
"Tired yet, Britty-honey?" he yelled over the headwind.  
  
"Not a bit, Jimmy-baby!" she retorted.   
  
"Flirting with Gryffindors, Vox?" Narcissa Black sneered as she passed near them. "Oh, dear, won't Snape be disappointed?"  
  
Martis casually maneuvered back around and wiggled the broom's tail in Narcissa's direction, grinning over her shoulder. "Eat my dust, uppity bint."  
  
"Crude," Narcissa commented, diving into a series of loops.  
  
Lucius Malfoy settled near Sev and the Vox sisters, his blonde hair whipping around his face in the breeze. "Has it started already?"  
  
"Just warm-ups," Phaedra answered. "How's it hanging, Mall-boy?"  
  
He rolled his eyes and glanced at Sev. "I've yet to understand how you have every single Vox in the school on your arm, Snips."  
  
"He's got it," Artemisia answered. "You don't."  
  
Sev blushed, hiding behind Phaedra's big, frizzy dark hair.  
  
Adonia giggled. "You look girly enough, Malfoy - wanna be my woman?"  
  
"I beg your pardon?" he asked. "Get away from me!"  
  
"Woo-hoo!" Phaedra yelled. "Show that Black cow how it's done, baby sister!"  
  
"Please do not speak of Miss Black that way," Lucius stated.  
  
"Why?" Artemisia asked. "Don't want anyone bad-mouthing your twin sister?"  
  
"Yeah," Adonia began conversationally. "I always wondered why he calls his sister 'Miss Black' - "  
  
"Maybe they were twins separated at birth?" Artemisia suggested.  
  
"Good one! We can't be the only twins in the school."  
  
Lucius sneered at them and watched Narcissa Black sail across the pitch with perfect grace and beauty.  
  
Madame Hooch blew her whistle. "All right! Divvy up into teams! Four Chasers per team, two Beaters, Seeker, and Keeper."  
  
Narcissa spun into place as called out for Seeker, while Martis pointedly flew over to another team - which Potter was calling Seeker on.  
  
"Well, Jimmy," she commented. "Looks like this will be the only time we'll ever be on the same side."  
  
"I prefer it to remain that way, Britty." He gave her a dazzling smile.  
  
"Is that Lily Evans in the stands?"  
  
"WHERE?!"  
  
Martis giggled, flying off. "Poor dork."  
  
Down below in the Marauders' section, Black snorted to himself. "I don't like how familiar he's getting with Snake-Bitch."  
  
Lupin shrugged. "I'm pretty sure they're trading insults with each other. Prongs said she grates on his nerves like fingernails on a blackboard."  
  
Black shifted his eyes to look at the sickly member of their group. "Yes, that's what my father says about my mother, too." He narrowed his eyes. "You doing all right, Moony? You seem to have a drool problem going on."  
  
"I am not," Lupin denied as he wiped his chin, finding nothing. "What's your problem today?"  
  
"Nothing much, just the loss of twenty points because of them." He grinned nastily. "Buh-buh-buh-but ih-ih-it was f-f-f-fun while it la-la-lasted."  
  
"Yes," Lupin commented dryly. "Even if a lesbian turned you down."  
  
"Oh, shut up. You have no idea how to appreciate the female form."  
  
Lupin glanced up, seeing Britomartis Vox flying by, her long ash-blonde ponytail whipping in the wind and her body tensed in concentration. Spinning in mid-air, she swung her bat out at the Bludger heading for one of the Chasers on her practice team. He could see every muscle in her legs and upper arms strain against the under-uniform, not covered up by team sweaters or robes. "Whatever you say, Sirius."  
  
Back in the game, Narcissa was chasing the Golden Snitch by going neck-to-neck with James Potter.  
  
"Your eyeliner's smeared," Potter casually remarked. "Look like a raccoon."  
  
This threw Narcissa off the trail of the Snitch and Potter zoomed after it amid the melee of Chasers trying to snatch the Quaffle from each other. A Bludger screeched in his wake, only to have it slammed away by Martis.  
  
"Thanks, Britty!" he called.  
  
Martis grunted. "I hate being called 'Britty'." She dove downward as the opposite team began to form into an arrowhead formation. "Don't they ever learn?" she mused to herself.  
  
Placing her back to them, she focused her eye on a Bludger and swung her bat in a backhand hit -   
  
It seemed everyone in the stands stood up to watch as the Bludger plowed into the formation, sending all three Chasers to the pitch in a pile of brooms, arms, legs, and many bad words.  
  
The howl of approval from the student stands (Slytherins and Vox's) was heard all the way over to the teachers' stands.  
  
Slytherin Captain Onslow Daizer leaned close to Professor Gallo Penderdandis. "You have to let her on my team this year, there's no doubts about it, sir."  
  
"Yes," Penderdandis sighed. "I admit she has improved even more since that rematch. And what do you think of our Seekers?"  
  
Onslow cleared his throat. "Drop Black. She's more concerned with posing on the pitch. That St. Claire guy has potential."  
  
A smaller Third-Year male student zipped around on the other end of the pitch, going nearly as fast as the Snitch itself.  
  
"St. Claire does seem to be fast on the broom."  
  
"Reflexes like you wouldn't believe, sir. He says he's had practice because of his size. I don't mind admitting small-fry for Seeker. St. Claire's proven to be a hell of a Seeker so far."  
  
"Yes, he seems to be most suitable. What of the Chasers?"  
  
"We only need one. I don't have all three Woot brothers this year - Jamie went and graduated."  
  
"I know that. I think Kennebunk has a good show."  
  
"Need someone bigger."  
  
"But noticed he's scored three times already. He doesn't fly around like he has random numbers bouncing around in his head. He's actually thinking. And with Vox backing him up as a Beater, he could really score some points. St. Claire would definitely get us the Cup this year."  
  
"I agree on that, sir. Those three seem best."  
  
Penderdandis smiled slightly, pleased with himself. He would never admit that Vox's comment about not having enough brains on the team was what really drove him to selecting the three. She probably gave Daizer the same speech because the Slytherin Captain did not harp about the virtues of brawny might this year.  
  
Athletic brains and a girl on Slytherin's team. What stomach-churning concepts.  
  
Martis slammed a Bludger toward Narcissa, the ball knocking into the tail of her broom and making her spin around and around.  
  
"Are you trying to kill me??" Narcissa demanded.  
  
"Part of the game, Black," Martis replied. "Always take out the other team's Seeker."  
  
"What??"  
  
Martis circled above her. "You poor thing - you didn't read the rulebook too closely, did you? Seekers receive the most injuries out of all the players of Quidditch. If you want to keep your face that way, best to get off the pitch now." She deflected a Bludger without looking at it, causing the ball to blast through the air and crash right through the center of a hoop. The result was a three-foot-wide crater in the sand, of which the Bludger shook itself from and zoomed back up.  
  
"HOTCHA!"  
  
A hand suddenly made contact with Martis' backside, making her automatically crack her bat onto the offender's head.  
  
One of her fellow Slytherin recruits reeled downward through the air, followed by every single female on the pitch to follow him down and whack him with their brooms.  
  
Hooch's whistle blew and she shouted, "Grant - banned for life! Foul for grabbing another player's anatomy and dentention with me for it being an especially off-limits part of female anatomy!"  
  
Under the nearly dozen brooms concussing him at the moment, Grant cried, "I'm the luckiest guy in the world!"  
  
Potter landed next to Martis who was watching the riot with mild interest, and he shuddered. "He doesn't know serving detentions with Hooch involves cleaning the Bludgers - and they don't like to be cleaned." He glanced at her. "What are you smirking about?"  
  
"Oh, just a fine old tradition on Crete," she stated. "The Beating of the Pervert. Always liked those."  
  
He shook his head. "Vox, you are one dangerous girl."  
  
"Thanks, Potter. Just remember that."  
  
Hooch blew her whistle again and the players tapered off the beating. "Good show," she informed them. "Good show. Now it's up to your team captains and Heads of Houses to determine who's on what team. Good luck and congratulations."  
  
The cheer from recruits and students filled the stadium.  
  
----------  
  
The following morning, the Slytherin Team List for 1973-74 School Year was posted up in the Slytherin common room:  
  
Captain/Chaser: Onslow Daizer (7th year)  
  
Seeker: Thomas St.Claire (3rd year)  
  
Beater: Markham Dearling (6th year)  
  
Beater: Britomartis Vox (2nd year)  
  
Chaser: Ryan Woot (5th year)  
  
Chaser: Keith Woot (7th year)  
  
Chaser: Jonas Kennebunk (4th year)  
  
Keeper: Fearghus Flynn (6th year)  
  
( Denotes new player for this year.)  
  
Martis went into a victory dance which was soon joined in by Thomas St. Claire who was the same height as herself, both of them bouncing around the common room and singing about being on the team.  
  
She left Thomas to do his own victory dance and picked up Sev, swinging him around.   
  
"PUT ME DOWN!" he cried.  
  
Martis put him down and hugged him. "It's this great, Snips? I'm officially on the team this year!"  
  
He held her face and smiled down at her. "And no one deserves it better, Spirals."  
  
"Snips, you're not stuttering."  
  
"I'm concentrating really hard," he answered.  
  
They gazed at the other, smiling, his hands on her face and her arms around him.  
  
"Oh, stop it!" Narcissa snapped. "Either quit it or take it out to the bushes!"  
  
Martis pulled away from Sev and her face sombered up into a fine mask of sympathy. "Oh, Narcissa, I am sooooo sorry you didn't make the team."  
  
Narcissa sneered as she settled on a couch. "Shut your hole. I'm simply too refined for the violence of Quidditch."  
  
Sev rolled his eyes. "Pity. I recall Malfoy being quite ... excited about you flying around out there."  
  
She pursed her lips which quickly became a demure smile. "Indeed? Thank you for informing me, Severus."  
  
She got up and left them alone again. Martis giggled and hugged his chest. "What shall we do to celebrate?" she asked. "Eat lots of Cornish Pixie Stix, prank Black and his Whores, or you dragging me into those bushes?"  
  
Sev's eyes widened and he pulled away. "Whu-whu-whu - "  
  
"Kidding! Kidding!" she insisted. "You really need to lighten up again."  
  
"S-S-S-Sorry!" he stuttered.  
  
She brushed hair out of his face. "It's all right, Snips. I like you as you are."  
  
A throat cleared and the two friends separated. Everyone in the room quieted as Professor Penderdandis folded his arms. "Now that the team has been selected this year, I expect you to win the Quidditch Cup this time. That means practice as much as possible, understand?"  
  
"Yes, sir!" the Slytherin Quidditch team cried.  
  
"And that goes double for you, Miss Vox," he added as he approached her. "I trust you'll drop your silly pranks this year?"  
  
She shrugged. "No promises on the pranks, but I will guide the team to victory."  
  
He smirked, pushing up his pince-nez glasses. "I believe you will, Miss Vox." He lowered his voice as he turned. "Don't tell them I said that. I'll deny everything."  
  
Martis grinned and hugged Sev around the waist.  
  
----------  
  
In the Gryffindor dorms, James Potter was not so happy.  
  
"You're still a Chaser, Prongs," Lupin reminded them. "You can always try out for Seeker next year."  
  
"I know," Potter sighed. "I just had my hopes on it, y'know? Maybe it'll get Lily Evans' attention."  
  
"Not worth it," Pettigrew stated. "All girls are trouble."  
  
"Some more than others," Black added.  
  
"But some are worth it, James," Lupin finished.  
  
Potter nodded, grinning again. "You're right, Moony old chap. There's always next year."  
  
Black pulled his hair back. "Now, Prongs, we've got to come up with some strategies to throw off Slytherin. They're going to be trouble this year, I just know it."  
  
"How right you are."  
  
-End- 


End file.
